Grey Cup ratings soar in English Canada but fall short of national record

The Toronto Argonauts hoist the Grey Cup and celebrate their victory over the Calgary Stampeders at the 100th Grey Cup.

Photograph by: Darren Callabrese
, National Post

TORONTO -- Television ratings for the 100th Grey Cup game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders fell short of the modern national record set in 2009, according to overnight data from BBM Canada.

An average audience of 5.8 million viewers on TSN and RDS tuned in to see the Argonauts beat the Stampeders 35-22 at home.

The average of 5.5 million viewers on TSN is the largest English audience for the game since a new ratings measurement system caused sports TV ratings to skyrocket. But the overall average falls short of the 6.1 million total viewers who watched Montreal beat Saskatchewan shortly after the new system was introduced in 2009. The numbers for that game were buoyed by a larger audience on French-language RDS.

The overall numbers for the 100th Grey Cup are up 28 per cent from the 4.6 million viewers who tuned in to see B.C. beat Winnipeg in last year's final in Vancouver.

The ratings for the Vanier Cup were also released Monday, with an average of 910,000 viewers tuning in to see Laval rout McMaster 37-14 in the Canadian university football championship. That was up 38 per cent from the 660,000 viewers who tuned in last year.